Barrio Sésamo
(monster), Espinete (hedgehog) and Chema (the baker) infront of Espinete's house]] Barrio Sésamo is the Spanish Sesame Street co-production (literally Sesame Neighborhood). There have been three different versions of the show, beginning in the late 70s and running on and off through 2000. All of the shows aired on TV España. Muppet characters created for the shows include pink full-body bird Caponata and green snail Perezgil from the late 70s, brown full-body monster Don Pimpón and full-body pink hedgehog Espinete from the mid 80s, and blue full-body catlike Muppet Bluki, yellow monster Vera, owl Bubo and humanoid Muppet Gaspar from the late 90s. First run: Late 70s The show originally aired in Spain in the late 70s, as a dubbed version of the American Sesame Street. In 1979, they created their own characters -- Caponata, an orange, purple and yellow bird with curly pink hair (a full-body Muppet and counterpart to Big Bird), and Perezgil, a green snail with glasses (this character is permanently set on a wall) -- while retaining the American characters (Ernie and Bert, Kermit and Grover, etc.) for inserts. American Muppets were renamed so that Spanish-speaking child audiences would not get confused with English writing norms. A list of Spanish names is provided below. The original show wasn't successful, and it was cancelled in 1980. Second run: 1983 - 1987 . In the background, Chema's panadería]] From 1981 to 1983, a different children's program on Spanish television, La Cometa Blanca, included some sketches from Sesame Street. This program was directed by Muppet fan Lolo Rico. It also featured some actors which would later appear in Barrio Sésamo, mainly Mari Luz Olier, Alfonso Vallejo and the child-actress Ruth Gabriel (then known as Ruth Abellán). The Sesame Street sketches were successful with their young audience, so Sesame Street was given another chance in 1983 with Espinete (a hedgehog) and Don Pimpón (a friendly monster). Both characters were full-body Muppets. A human character who gained popularity in this version was Chema, an adult baker. Also Ana (a young student), Julían (a kiosk salesman), two children (Roberto and Ruth, with their parents Matilde and Antonio. Again, it retained American Muppet inserts. The show only aired until 1987, although it's still famous and loved by the generation that watched it. It was replaced by a similar series, Los mundos de Yupi (Yupi's Worlds), which featured Spanish puppets. Actor Alfonso Vallejo, who performed Don Pimpón on Barrio Sésamo, was cast as Astrako -- a non-puppet character in a Buzz Lightyear-like spacesuit with a personality that was much like Don Pimpón. Yupi was a Muppet-like alien, and two Ernie and Bert-style astronauts were also featured. Los Mundos de Yupi lasted from 1988 to 1990. The series was cancelled after its third season, but was not replaced with Barrio Sésamo. The third run of Barrio Sésamo on Spanish TV would not take place until 1996. There was a small reunion in 2006 on Gala Infantil, hosted by Miriam Díaz-Aroca. Together with Espinete, Don Pimpón, Chema and Ana she looked back at the highlights of the show. Third run: 1996 - 2000 , Bluki, Vera and Bubo.]] In 1996, the show returned with more new characters: Bluki (a blue full-body catlike Muppet), Vera (a yellow monster), Bubo (an owl) and Gaspar (a human Muppet). Additional characters that made occasional appearances included a wild monster with red fur and a healthy appetite - portraying a role similar to Cookie Monster's - and a tan Anything Muppet that could be turned into various different characters (such as a baby, a girl friend of Vera's, a clumsy man with a moustache, or a pig). Spanish names for American Muppets Some American Muppets were renamed for Spanish scenes, being their names in Spanish (including notes in parenthesis if needed): *Kermit: La Rana Gustavo ("Gustaf the Frog") *Ernie: Epi *Bert: Blas *Grover: Coco (slang for "brain") **Super Grover: Súper Coco **Marshal Grover: Sheriff Coco ("Sheriff Grover") ***Fred the Wonder Horse: La Jaca Paca ("Paca, the small horse" - Paca is female for Paco, which is in turn familiar for Francisco, Spanish version of name Frank), later changed to his original name, Fred, in the Third Series *Cookie Monster: Triqui, el monstruo de las galletas ("Triqui, the Cookie Monster") *Count von Count: El Conde Draco ("Count Draco", because of phonetic similitude with "Dracoo-la") *Telly Monster: Monstruo Teo ("Teo the Monster") *Oscar the Grouch: Óscar el Gruñón ("Oscar the Grumpy") *Big Bird: Paco Pico ("Fred Beak") **In some books and other media, he is wrongly called "Caponata", a different character from him from the First Series *Prairie Dawn: Belinda (initially); Aurora (Third Series onwards) *Guy Smiley: Pepe Sonrisas ("Joe Smiles") *Twiddlebugs: Los Nabucodonosorcitos ("The Little Nabucodonosor's", for king Nebuchadrezzar II the Great of Babylon, called Nabucodonosor in Spanish) Original Cast (1979-1980) Muppets *Jesús Alcaide as Perezgil *Emma Cohen as Caponata Humans *Conchita Goyanes as Adela *Petri Martínez as Petri *José Riesgo as Basilio *Alfonso Vallejo as Manolo *Juan Margallo as Desi Second Series Cast (1983-1987) Muppets *Alfonso Vallejo as Don Pimpón *Chelo Vivares as Espinete *Iñaki Echevarria as Kurro (one episode) Humans *José E. Camacho as Antonio *Isabel Castro as Ana *Cristina Higueras as Cristina *Mari Luz Olier as Matilde *José Riesgo as Julián *Jesús Ruyman as Jesús *Juan Ramón Sánchez as Chema the baker *Toni Sevilla as Desi *Carmelo Espinosa as various persons *Iñaki Echevarría as various persons *Antonio Alfonso *Maria Luisa Bernal *Elvira Menéndez *Alfonso Castizo *Encarna Abad The Kids *Susana Osuna as Susana *Francisco Javier as Frank *Ruth Abellán as Ruth *Roberto Mayor as Roberto *Mónica Díaz as Mónica *Francisco Sánchez as blond little boy Third Series Cast (1996-2000) Muppets *Joan Bentallé as Bluki, a big blue cat-like character *Rosa Pou as Vera, a young yellow monster *Vicent Ortolà as Gaspar, employee at Suleiman's greengrocer *Ardi Arus as Bubo, an old owl who lives in the park Market workers *Miquel Àngel Ripeu as Suleiman, the vegetable salesman *Mireia Villanueva as Rebeca, a saleswoman in the market *Teresa Soler as Nati, the fishmonger and Bernardo's daughter *Ramon Teixidor as Bernardo, a fisherman and Nati's father *Joan Manuel Orfila as Marcial, the tinsmith *Gloria Roig as Elena, owner of the haberdashery and Eduardo's mother Other adults *Imma Colomer as Emma, the antique saleswoman *Sergi Calleja as Basilio, the park gardener *Joan Gilbert as Eduardo, the carpenter and Elena's son *Toni Sevilla as Desi, who works with his spouse in a hotel *Carme Abril as Amanda, who works with her husband in a hotel *Karim Alami as Salim, the waiter in the hotel *Roser Campanya as Mercedes, the librarian *Sebasitan Porras as Manuel, a businessman and Fatima's husband *Mercedes Porras as Fatima, a doctor and Manuel's wife *Rubén Ametllé as Ramón *? as Bastian, the cookery salesman Kids *Joan Roses as Eloy, Desi and Amanda's son *David Bosch as Narciso, a boy who love the computers *Teresa Maria Badal as Sonia, a girl who usually plays with the other kids *Dolores Navarro as Carlota, daughter of Manuel and Fatima See also *Barrio Sésamo Merchandise *Monstruos Supersanos (2012) *Barrio Sésamo episodes with recycled plots (Second Run) External links *Youtube: Second run opening *Youtube: Gala infantil 2006: remembering Espinete and friends *Dailymotion: christmas special (semi behind the scenes) __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:International Sesame Street Shows Category:Barrio Sésamo